Fast-food workers are planning a global strike for better pay and working conditions, with actions set to take place in 150 U.S. cities and 32 other countries in a bid to exert pressure on multinational companies.

Strikes are planned for May 15 across five continents in countries including Morocco, Japan, India, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and New Zealand, where workers will stage a protest at the McDonald’s headquarters in Auckland, according to a statement by activist group Fast Food Forward. Other strikes will target Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC.

The actions were announced Wednesday in Manhattan, New York, at a meeting during which fast-food workers and union leaders detailed how they intended to expand a movement that began with a walkout in November 2012. On that occasion, some 200 workers went on strike in New York City, demanding a pay increase of $15 per hour and the right to unionize without retaliation.

About this campaign

Fast-food workers are coming together all over the country to fight for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and to cover basic needs like food, health care, rent and transportation. Too many of us are forced to rely on public assistance to scrape by.

These are billion-dollar companies that can afford to pay their employees better. Low-wage jobs are the fastest growing jobs in the nation, and they need to pay more so that workers like us can make ends meet, and so that we can rebuild the middle class and get the economy working again.

The first minimum wage law was passed in America over 75 years ago. On a chilly Wednesday afternoon, October 24th, a rally and “speak out” protest, supported by social justice activists, was held at McKeldin Square, in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area to mark that anniversary. A campaign is currently underway in Maryland, and across the country, too, to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. To learn more about this laudable effort, go to “National Workers Demand a Pay Raise,” at: https://www.facebook.com/events/15487&#8230; and “Peoples Power Assemblies” at: https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesPower&#8230; Speaking on camera are activists Barbara Bridges, Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, Crystal Richardson and Beth Emmerling. Sharon Black helped to organize the rally and served as the moderator of the program. Cheatham is running for the House of Delegates in the 40th legislative district. He said that if he wins one of the first Bills that he will introduce will be one to “raise the minimum wage – a living wage – in Maryland” and another to ensure “equal pay for equal work for women.”

A Pennsylvania woman is now suing the McDonald’s franchise that refused to pay her by check and instead insisted on employees using payroll debit cards.

“I’m looking for the pay I am owed and for them to understand there has to be an option,” Natalie Gunshannon, 27, told the Citizen’s Voice newspaper.

Gunshannon worked less than a month at the Shavertown McDonald’s location when she learned that the franchise required employees to accept payment on a J.P. Morgan Chase payroll card. But the card, she contends, imposes fees on virtually every transaction, creating a monetary and physical barrier to her hard-earned cash. Among the costs, according to her lawsuit: $1.50 for an ATM withdrawal, $5 for over-the-counter cash withdrawals and $1 to check the balance. There’s even a charge to pay a bill online or if the card is lost or stolen.

Gunshannon is one of several plaintiffs in the class action, filed last week, against Albert and Carol Mueller, the owners of 15 McDonald’s stores in Pennsylvania.

Such a payment option has been embraced by large corporations like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Lowe’s Cos. Inc., The Home Depot and FedEx Corp.